Criminal Justice News

Monday, September 08, 2014

Miami Resident Convicted of Obstruction of Justice by Murder and Firearms Trafficking

Wifredo A. Ferrer, U.S. Attorney for the Southern District
of Florida, Hugo Barrera, Special Agent in Charge, Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco,
Firearms and Explosives (ATF), Miami Field Office, and J.D. Patterson,
Director, Miami-Dade Police Department (MDPD), announce the conviction of
Andres Campo, 26, of Miami. Campo was convicted by a jury on all counts of a 12
count indictment charging him with obstruction of justice by murder, possession
of a firearm in furtherance of a crime of violence, and a number of related
firearms trafficking charges. U.S. District Judge Cecilia Altonaga presided
over the trial.

Specifically, Campo was charged and convicted of conspiring
to obstruct justice by murder (18 U.S.C. § 1512); obstruction of justice by
murder (18 U.S.C. § 1512); possession of a firearm in furtherance of a crime of
violence, resulting in death (18 U.S.C. §§ 924(c)(1)(A) and (j)); conspiracy to
export firearms without a license (18 U.S.C. § 554); six counts of possessing
firearms parts that were intended for illegal exportation (18 U.S.C. § 554);
and two counts of possessing a firearm while a fugitive from justice (18 U.S.C.
§ 922(g)(2)). The jury further found the murder was premeditated. At
sentencing, Campo faces a mandatory sentence of life in prison.

According to the evidence at trial, Erik Comesana, the
victim, was a straw purchaser in an international arms trafficking organization
responsible for the shipment of numerous AR-15 rifles, .50 caliber rifles, and
other firearms and firearm parts to Cali, Colombia. The organization was run by
Campo, who used Comesana and other straw purchasers to buy firearms and firearm
parts from legal firearm dealers in south and central Florida. The firearms and
firearm parts were gathered at various locations in Miami, taken apart into
smaller pieces, and then hidden inside of boxes of miscellaneous materials that
were shipped to Colombia.

In October 2009, Comesana was detained after an ATF Special
Agent noticed Comesana’s accomplice purchasing an unusual number of AR-15 lower
receivers. Comesana was detained and provided a statement to the agents. The
investigation continued until March 2011, when Comesana was ultimately arrested
and charged with firearms trafficking violations in the Southern District of
Florida.

On May 27, 2011, Comesana notified the federal court that he
intended to plead guilty. Later that evening, Comesana’s body was found burning
in southwest Miami-Dade County, after being murdered in another location. A
joint investigation by the MDPD Homicide Bureau and ATF subsequently identified
Campo and Carlos Rios as the perpetrators.

According to the evidence at trial, after Comesana was
arrested, Campo grew increasingly paranoid about the prospect that Comesana
would cooperate with the ongoing federal investigation.

On May 27, 2011, Campo instructed Comesana to appear at a
warehouse, purportedly to give him money to pay for his attorney. Instead,
Comesana was shot twice and died at the scene. Comesana’s body was transported
to another location and set on fire. Campo and his accomplice, Carlos Rios,
then fled Florida for a period of time before ultimately returning to resume
their arms trafficking business.

During the next year, while searching for Campo and Rios,
the investigation continued. On July 3, 2012, both Campo and Rios narrowly
missed being arrested when agents searched a home in which their identification
and firearms trafficking paraphernalia was found. Ultimately, on July 26, 2012,
Campos and Rios were arrested in a Miami motel parking lot, after they emerged
from a room that they had rented in a false name. A loaded firearm and an upper
AR-15 was recovered from Campo’s vehicle.

Carlos Rios previously pled guilty to participating in the
murder and received a sentence of life in prison.

Mr. Ferrer thanked the many law enforcement agencies
involved in this South Florida High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area Task Force
(HIDTA) operation. In particular, Mr. Ferrer thanked ATF and MDPD. This case is
being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Anthony LaCosta and Seth M.
Schlessinger.

The South Florida HIDTA was established in 1990. This
program, made up of federal, state and local law enforcement agencies, fosters
intra-agency cooperation among law enforcement agencies in South Florida and
involves them in developing a strategy to target the region’s drug-related
threats to public safety. The South Florida HIDTA uses the funding provided by
the Office of National Drug Control Policy that sponsors a variety of law
enforcement initiatives that target the region’s illicit drug threats.